German annual VAT return 2025: deadline, payment and late-filing surcharge

The annual VAT return for calendar year 2025 was due by 31 July 2026 if you prepare it without a tax adviser; if a tax adviser prepares it, the deadline ends on 1 March 2027. This follows from section 149 AO and the deadline table of the Bavarian State Office for Taxes. As of 26 October 2026 the deadline for self-prepared returns has therefore passed: file now, before the tax office sets a late-filing surcharge.

Last updated: 26 October 2026

The essentials in brief

Without an adviser: file by 31 July 2026 (section 149 (2) AO).
With an adviser: file by 1 March 2027 (section 149 (3) no. 4 AO; deadline table of the Bavarian State Office for Taxes).
Payment: a balance in favour of the tax office is due one month after the return is received (section 18 (4) UStG).
Late filing: the tax office may set a late-filing surcharge; late payment brings late-payment surcharges.
Small businesses: generally exempt, with exceptions: annual VAT return as a small business.

Which deadline applies for 2025?

Who files?	Deadline for 2025
Taxpayers without an adviser (section 149 (2) sentence 1 AO)	31 July 2026
Taxpayers with an adviser (section 149 (3) AO)	1 March 2027

The standard deadline is seven months after the end of the calendar year (section 149 (2) AO). The Bavarian State Office for Taxes publicly announces that returns for 2025 are due by 31 July 2026. If a person or company within the meaning of sections 3 and 4 to 4d of the Tax Advisers Act prepares the VAT return, a later date applies under section 149 (3) no. 4 AO, which the State Office's table gives as 1 March 2027. In certain cases the tax office can order earlier filing (section 149 (4) AO).

If you ended your business during 2025, the VAT return for that shorter tax period was due within one month after it ended (section 16 (3), section 18 (3) sentence 2 UStG); the adviser deadline does not apply to it (section 149 (5) AO).

For comparison: for 2026, 31 July 2027 falls on a Saturday. The deadline then ends on the next working day, 2 August 2027 (section 108 (3) AO).

How is the annual return filed?

The business submits a return for the calendar year in the officially prescribed data set through the officially designated interface (section 18 (3) UStG), calculating the tax or the surplus itself. This works through ELSTER. The guide to the form is at ELSTER: guide to the VAT return 2025 (in German). A step-by-step overview: annual VAT return in Germany.

When is payment due?

If the return calculates the tax differently from the sum of the prepayments, the balance in favour of the tax office is due one month after the return is received and is to be paid by then (section 18 (4) UStG). If tax is not paid by the end of the due date, a late-payment surcharge of 1 percent of the rounded-down outstanding tax is to be paid for each started month of delay (section 240 (1) AO).

Late-filing surcharge: what is at stake?

Against anyone who does not file a return, or does not file on time, a late-filing surcharge can be set (section 152 (1) AO). It is to be waived if the delay is excusable and you make that credible. In addition:

Mandatory surcharge after 14 months: if a return relating to a calendar year is not filed within 14 months after the end of the year, a late-filing surcharge must be set (section 152 (2) AO). For 2025 the 14 months end at the end of February 2027 (28 February 2027 is a Sunday). A return filed by an adviser by 1 March 2027 is on time (section 149 (3) AO).
Exceptions: where the tax office has extended the deadline under section 109 AO, where the tax is set at zero or a negative amount, or where the tax set does not exceed the prepayments (section 152 (3) AO).
Amount: for returns relating to a calendar year it is 0.25 percent of the assessed tax reduced by the prepayments, for each started month of delay, but at least 25 euros per month (section 152 (5) sentence 2 AO). It is rounded down to full euros and may not exceed 25,000 euros (section 152 (10) AO).

Whether and in what amount the tax office sets a surcharge in your case is decided case by case.

Common mistakes

Mixing the deadline up with the advance return deadline. The annual return has its own, later deadline.
Using the adviser deadline without an adviser. 1 March 2027 applies to returns prepared by an adviser within the meaning of section 149 (3) AO.
Waiting for a reminder. The deadline runs without one from the tax office.
Forgetting the payment. A balance is due one month after the return is received.
Filing or not filing as a small business without checking. Check the exceptions in annual VAT return as a small business.

How it works with VAT GPT

VAT GPT prepares your annual return from the documents of the year:

Upload documents: the AI reads invoice date, amounts, currency and country. You check and confirm the values.
Check the result: VAT GPT prepares advance returns, annual returns, EÜR, trade tax and income tax return.
Send: with VAT GPT Pro via ELSTER directly to the tax office.

Everything is in one place: VAT return, annual VAT return, OSS return, EÜR, trade tax and income tax return. With Go you use all Pro features free of charge for 30 days. Get to know VAT GPT or create an account right away.

What VAT GPT does not do

VAT GPT is not tax advice, for example on which deadline applies to you.
The AI reads date, amounts, currency and country; the deadline and the amount of a possible surcharge are for you to check.

What does VAT GPT cost?

Free (basic features, free of charge), Go (30 days free with all Pro features), Pro €49 per month or €444 per year, each including VAT.

Frequently asked questions

By when must I file the 2025 annual VAT return? By 31 July 2026 without an adviser, by 1 March 2027 with one.

The deadline has passed. What now? File as soon as possible. The tax office may set a late-filing surcharge; whoever makes the delay credibly excusable can be spared it (section 152 (1) AO).

When is payment due? One month after the return is received, to the extent the tax exceeds the prepayments (section 18 (4) UStG).

How high is the late-filing surcharge? 0.25 percent of the remaining tax per started month, at least 25 euros per month, at most 25,000 euros in total (section 152 (5), (10) AO).

Must a small business file the return? Generally not, with exceptions.

What is the deadline for 2026? The standard deadline is 31 July 2027; because it is a Saturday it ends on 2 August 2027.